Bibcode
Rosenberg, Alfred; Marín-Franch, A.; Aparicio, A.; Piotto, G.; Chaboyer, B.; Sarajedini, A.
Bibliographical reference
2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #100.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.1044
Advertised on:
12
2006
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
Based on our large and homogeneous photometric database of globular
cluster observations taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard
the Hubble Space Telescope, a set of distance and reddening independent
relative age indicators have been measured. The high quality of the
color magnitude diagrams (CMDs) allows us to explore several variations
of the classical age methods. The "vertical method" measures the
magnitude difference between the main sequence turn-off (MSTO) and the
horizontal branch (HB), the level of which is largely insensitive to
age. The "horizontal method" measures the color difference between the
MSTO and the red giant branch at a certain magnitude above the MSTO. The
third method we will apply to our sample is similar to main sequence
fitting. The observed CMDs are so well defined along the main sequence
that we are able to superpose all the clusters in the same metallicity
group and directly determine the differences in the color and magnitude
of their turnoffs. This was practically impossible for previous
databases because of the limited quality of the main sequence
photometry. The observed "vertical", "horizontal" and main sequence
fitting parameters will be analyzed in six metallicity subgroups and
compared to the relations predicted by a library of isochrones
constructed for this survey. Using the three independent methods and
different theoretical models we will test the self-consistency of the
results and the models at the same time.